Calif. pays billions in overtime to state workers

SACRAMENTO, Calif. 
California auditors say some state employees earned more than $150,000 a year in overtime as the state paid out more than $2.1 billion in overtime in the last five years.

The overtime went to firefighters, highway patrolmen and employees at the departments of Veterans Affairs, Mental Health, and Developmental Services. The audit released Tuesday did not include overtime paid to corrections employees who staff prisons around the clock.

The state auditor criticized union contracts that allow employees to claim overtime even if they have been off work during other parts of the pay period.

Agencies said they often have little choice but to pay overtime as they care for veterans and the mentally and physically ill day and night.